YWCA High Point merges with Parents As Teachers

The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·2 min read

Jul. 9—HIGH POINT — YWCA High Point is expanding its footprint across Guilford County.

Officials of YWCA High Point and Parents As Teachers Guilford County announced Friday that the two organizations have merged, effective July 1. The Parents As Teachers program will come under the umbrella of YWCA High Point's Parents As Teachers affiliate.

Employees of PAT-GC will become employees of YWCA High Point, which will continue to be led by Executive Director Heidi Majors. PAT-GC's offices in Greensboro will be maintained to serve Greensboro families.

"The best time for a merger is while you are focusing on strengths, not weaknesses," Majors said. "Parents As Teachers Guilford County has been serving the community for over 21 years, and in our time as an affiliate we have worked closely together to serve Guilford County. We believe that this merger will allow the provision of programming across Guilford County in a more effective and efficient way."

Both organizations are funded by Smart Start through Guilford County Partnership for Children, and the funds will continue to support Parents As Teachers programming across the county, Majors said.

PAT-GC Executive Director Patti Learman, who founded PAT-GC in 1999, said she's happy her agency will now come under the YWCA High Point umbrella.

"(The YWCA) has demonstrated a commitment to supporting teen families in the greater High Point area, and now will be serving families throughout all of Guilford County, too," Learman said.

Learman will continue with YWCA High Point and PAT affiliates across North Carolina as PAT's state leader.

Based on the national Parents As Teachers model, PAT-GC builds strong communities, thriving families and children who are healthy, safe and ready to learn by matching parents and caregivers with trained professionals who make regular personal home visits during a child's earliest years in life, from prenatal through kindergarten.

YWCA High Point became a Parents As Teachers affiliate in 2020 and since then has expanded from one parent educator to six.